50 Themes
by Ebony Twist
Summary: Peer beyond my exterior, take a look at the interior. Tony/Pepper


A/N: A collection of short, generally one sentence long drabbles centered around the lives of Tony and Pepper. The second part should be up soon!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own them outside of wild fantasies...

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**1.**** Cinnamon  
**_oh, have yourself a merry little christmas_

His favorite part of the holidays is asking her if she'll dress up as Santa while she brings him coffee and a plate of homemade, once-a-year cookies.

**2. Bittersweet  
**_right and wrong's not black and white_

The only thing worse than the tears running down her face is his joy that for once, they _are not_ his fault.

**3.**** Technology  
**_my mind, my struggle_

And then there are the days when Pepper finds Tony alone in his workshop, a stone's throw from exhaustion and a revolutionary creation sitting on the table.

**4. "What was that for?"  
**_pride's a funny thing, you know_

He thought the first time was an accident. The second, a bug in the system. By the third, he threatened to have JARVIS sent to the cheapest community college available if he didn't stop changing his music to songs about apologies.

**5. Rumors  
**_nothing more than a whisper wind_

To be honest, she cares more about people smearing his name than hers (but this is _only_ because he's trying so, so hard to be good and doesn't need his face in the tabloids between blowing up ammunitions).

**6. Sacrifice  
**_give all I can, take what I can get_

It's not that he doesn't care, that he doesn't want to; it's just that he's never going to be fucking good enough and why give up the only vice he's worthy enough for?

**7. Reunion  
**_the beginning of a beautiful friendship_

One time, he catches her watching _Casablanca _in between managing his e-mails and browsing CNN, and promptly spends the rest of the week joking in a terrible accent about how out of all the offices in all the companies in the world, she'd stormed into his.

**8. Sword & Shield  
**_the pen is mightier than the sword_

Somewhere along the way, she became his guard against the world, armed with an icy smile and her Blackberry.

**9. My Happy Ending  
**_counting the little moments_

On an ordinary afternoon (he's back from Tibet and she's just charmed the board back into compliance), he sees her sitting on the dais by the window, a soft smile dancing across her face, and takes a minute to enjoy the view.

**10. Windows of the Soul  
**_peer beyond my exterior, take a look at the interior_

With the glass littering the ground like shattered diamonds, he feels more vulnerable than ever, his barriers from the world's prying eyes gone beneath his hands.

**11. Served Your Purpose  
**_find the expiration date _

She worries about the day he joins the broken metal lying in the corner.

**12. Forever Ours  
**_ignorance is bliss_

The thought will never cross her lips, but at least in the time before her world came crashing down, they were safe and sometimes happy in their bubble against the _storm_.

**13. Introspection  
**_but bitter pinch of pain and fear that make creation think_

There are times he wonders if maybe he's more metal than man because he _swears_ he can feel iron clamping over his heart and cold steel running through his veins.

**14. "If only..."  
**_naughty influences_

She knows she's been working for far too long when she starts to reply to his innuendos before he can even utter them.

**15. Lost  
**_and all I can see is your light_

He will never, never tell her, but it was _her_ voice that led him out of the darkness in that cave.

**16. Words of the Heart  
**_proof that maybe something's there_

The week after the factory explodes, she finds the old arc reactor back in a new glass case, delicately placed next to a picture of his parents on the mantle.

**17. Inspiration  
**_a piece here and a bolt there, and watch us all come together now_

Secretly, she wonders how he always just seems to know what wire will fit there and how it will all seamlessly fall together.

**18. Reaching  
**_prepared to keep dreaming_

Each time they kiss, he holds her as if this will be their last time, as if each breathe will be their last.

**19. Chaos  
**_going to quit this crazy scene_

They both know there is something irrevocably _wrong_ about a world without the other in it.

**20. Holiday  
**_blink and vanish_

She never takes days off anymore, now that he's back from over there (She never knows when one day will be his last).

**21. Release**  
_break these fragile holds or loose, I'm told_

On the day their dance finally ends, flames blister their skin and their thoughts lay out like cards on the table.

**22. Pain relief  
**_smile though your heart is aching_

Somehow, she knows that aspirin won't help budge the weight in her chest when he's gone.

**23. Begging  
**_calm before the storm_

"I thought I paid you to help me, not to _laugh_."

**24. Can't Deny It  
**_data blips across the scene_

As the years pass, JARVIS catalogues the minute changes among their lives; neither creator nor machine is sure of the day their duo became a threesome.

**25. Unsweetened Tea  
**_sometimes, the best comfort is unasked for_

One morning, she wakes up to a blanket wrapped snug around her shoulders and a steaming cup of her favorite tea.

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Remember, feedback is very much appreciated!


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